The New International Encyclopædia/Gärtner, Joseph

GÄRTNER, Joseph (1732-91). A German botanist. He was born at Kalw (Württemberg), studied at Tübingen and Göttingen, and after extensive travel was, in 1761, appointed professor of anatomy at the former university. From 1768 to 1770 he was professor of natural history and director of the botanical garden and the natural history collection at the University of Saint Petersburg. His most important work is De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum (1788-91), which, by its minutely accurate descriptions, comprising a thousand and more species, introduced a new era in plant morphology. The scientific value of the book was much increased by the addition of 180 copper-plate engravings.